In message , K
writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , Kate
Morgan writes


Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

Not very common round here. I've been collecting observations on
the local flora for the last two years, and I've only found the one
locality, and that with only a few plants.
-- Stewart Robert Hinsley

Its only when someone draws your attention to plants that you
suddenly notice them, for me anyway. I will have a good look around
this morning and have a wander down the lane. I don't think I will
find anything down there apart from Cow Parsley, one of my favorites.

I don't know if I'm right, but I've always associated with damper
areas... Indeed Fitter et al say "meadows and woods, usually away from
lime, often near water". So I guess it's one of these things which is
all over the country provided you look in the right habitat. I haven't
seen it in many places, but when I have seen it, it has been in abundance!

Yes, I've noticed that once you've learned to identify a plant you
often suddenly start noticing it. The last case being cornsalad. I
found one growing in a pavement edge a month of so ago - and it took
me several weeks to work out what it was - and since then I've seen it
in the city centre, and on the allotment site. Or last year, when I
started noticing spring beauty all over the place.

Spring beauty? Claytonia perfoliata? Relative of Pink Purslane?

Yes. It's quite common as a pavement weed.

Two that I now notice more frequently are Pignut and Town Hall Clock -
because now I can recognise their leaves. All too often you need the
flower for the first identification, so for most of the year you can be
walking right past the plant, but without flowers you don't know what
it is.

Pignut is another one I've been noticing more this year. Town Hall Clock
seems to be rare round here - I've seen it once, on a canal towpath
about ten miles away. I had a fair idea what it was at the time, but
confirmed it when I got home. It's supposed to be present in a nature
reserve about 4 miles away, but I haven't seen it there.

What I never see is hemlock - am I overlooking it as something else?

I find it adds a lot for me to be able to identify a plants and know
where it fits in. Last year I finally got to grips with very basic
grass identification and walks where I used to think "no flowers -
boring!" are suddenly full of interest. I think this is somewhat of a
defect in me - other people can recognise beauty without the need to
stick it into a taxonomic structure.

You're ahead of me there. My next step is to crack Salix (I can tell
that there's lots of different willows around - I just can't divide them
into groups).
I'm still having trouble with docks, willow herbs and trefoils/medicks
as well. When I've sorted those out I can make a start on grasses,
sedges and rushes.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley